Why is defense considered ugly?

[Sedale Threatt]

I never thought the Spurs were as bad as everyone thought. What typically hurt them was that, outside of the Pistons in 05, they were playing crappy teams in the Finals, their big opportunity to showcase themselves.

And that Pistons/Spurs series, as competitive as it was, was brutal to watch because you had two world-class defenses choking each other out.

I don't care what anyone says -- going eight, nine possessions in a row with no points isn't exciting to watch. That happened pretty much every quarter in that series.

[Sedale Threatt]

An aside, Tim Duncan is my litmus test for basketball acumen. People who think he's boring obviously don't know anything about hoops, and our discussion can end there.

[og15]

The defense isn't ugly, the opposing offense that results from the defense is ugly. But many times ugly games aren't just defense, but a mixture of really good defense and sloppy/bad offense. What is ugly isn't the really good defense, it is the sloppy / bad offense.

If you are moving the ball well and the defense just closes out and makes you take tough shots, that isn't ugly, just good defense. If you are playing iso ball and missing and wildly driving into traffic and getting turnovers and throwing awful passes, that's just ugly no matter what the defense is doing.

...but yes, slow paced defensive battles isn't really "fun" to watch. You can commend it, but it certainly isn't exciting to see two teams shoot 35% FG and score 40 points at half time.

[rizkid92]

The "goal" in basketball is to score.

In any scoring based sport, scoring is what truly excites people. This is something most definitely not unique to basketball.

Actually the "Goal" in basketball is to hold your opponents from scoring more than you

[og15]

The "goal" in basketball is to score.

In any scoring based sport, scoring is what truly excites people. This is something most definitely not unique to basketball.

Actually the "Goal" in basketball is to hold your opponents from scoring more than you

Why even do this? Neither of you is wrong, the goal is to have more points in the end. Whether you do it by aiming to score much more effectively or aiming to prevent your opponents from scoring as effectively, or best of all, both, as long as the end result is you with more points.

[sisibilio]

The defense isn't ugly, the opposing offense that results from the defense is ugly.

Poorly executed offenses are ugly, people sometimes equate low scoring affairs with good defenses, and that's not always the case.

[og15]

The defense isn't ugly, the opposing offense that results from the defense is ugly.

Poorly executed offenses are ugly, people sometimes equate low scoring affairs with good defenses, and that's not always the case.

Yea, exactly, the ugly is when a team isn't scoring because of sloppiness and iso ball with players that shouldn't iso so much, etc, not necessarily the defense.

[rockmanslim]

The "goal" in basketball is to score.

In any scoring based sport, scoring is what truly excites people. This is something most definitely not unique to basketball.

Actually the "Goal" in basketball is to hold your opponents from scoring more than you

The real goal of pro sports is butts in seats and eyes on screens.

Scoring sells. It's why the NFL has made quarterbacks untouchable on the field. It's why Stern eliminated hand checking, put in the clear path rule, changed the 10 second backcourt violation to 8 seconds, etc. It's why MLB juiced their baseballs and their players.

[Nuntius]

The real goal of pro sports is butts in seats and eyes on screens.

But the real goal of pro teams is to win a championship in their sport.

[ChiCitySPORTS#1]

Missed shots, loose balls, hard fouls, turnovers and low scoring, are all characteristics that are prevalent in a game where 2 great defensive teams are playing each other. Rendering it 'ugly'.

[rockmanslim]

The real goal of pro sports is butts in seats and eyes on screens.

But the real goal of pro teams is to win a championship in their sport.

Because championships put butts in seats and eyes on screens.

[Bskey]

The "goal" in basketball is to score.

In any scoring based sport, scoring is what truly excites people. This is something most definitely not unique to basketball.

Actually the "Goal" in basketball is to hold your opponents from scoring more than you

Duh? Try doing that with a score of 0.

[twix2500]

Im one of those guys that generally leaned more tords the shootouts. i will say though that i was wowed by that Lakers/Celtics 2010 game 7. THAT was the most amazing grind-it-out hardcore defensive game ive ever witnessed, and loved every second of it

I love watching competition, imoveable object against the unstoppable force. Watching great contested shots makes the shot itself amazing. I hate watching chuckers and uncontested shots, otherwise i would just watch layup drills lol

[Nuntius]

The real goal of pro sports is butts in seats and eyes on screens.

But the real goal of pro teams is to win a championship in their sport.

Because championships put butts in seats and eyes on screens.

Yes.

So, if a team can win a chip by being "boring" do you think that they're not going to do it?

[GrandTheftRondo]

Because you'll see lots of misses.